Luke 17:5-10

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

“Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here at once and take your place at the table’? Would you not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me; put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink’? Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!’ ”

Sermon Text

One of the ways that I know that people do not often actually read scripture is that I do not, as a pastor, get more questions about slavery. When you read through the scriptures, you see that throughout the Old Testament, the New Testament, and, if you’re feeling especially exotic, the Apocrypha, there is a lot of talk about slavery and very little discussion of how it is a bad thing. There’s a lot of reasons for this, entire books about it even, and we sadly do not have time to go into it today.

I am not going to spend a lot of time explaining, or explaining away, the Bible’s treatment of slavery. Obviously, as people who live in the modern era, we acknowledge the fact that slavery in any form is despicable. Yet. as people who have never in their lives suffered a loss of freedom because of this institution it can be easy for us to not take a moment to acknowledge its presence throughout scripture. Others in this world are not so lucky, whether they live in an area of the world where slavery is still very real or they are descendants of those who had lost their freedom, or been born into a system that never allowed them to have it. Today, we are discussing a parable of Jesus within its context and from it I hope we can understand a little bit more of how we interact with the world and if you’re interested, we can come back another time and talk about why that context makes us bristle as much as it does.

In our scripture, Jesus is talking to his disciples. Firstly, he looks at the group of them and says in response to their demand that he increases their faith, “If you all had faith the size of a mustard seed, you would be able to do, intense, but still basic gardening with it.” Something that is lost in the English translation is that Jesus is not saying if each individual had faith the size of a mustard seed they could do this, he is saying that if all of them together could muster up even that much faith it would be sufficient to rip up a single tree.

 This is very different from what Jesus tells us in Matthew. There we read that faith the size of a mustard seed would be able to move mountains.[1] In truth, I think Jesus probably gave his disciples both of these teachings at different times. Matthew’s version captures a moment of Jesus delivering this message out of hope for his disciples. After spending years with these people and seeing them grow very little, the messaging necessarily changes to a call for action on their part. Jesus, having faced his disciples constantly arguing with each other over who is the greatest and who is best at doing this or that, finally seems to have a moment where he looks them in the eye and calls their bluff about why they are doing what they’re doing.

Jesus looks at them and gives them a parable that for our modern eyes is uncomfortable and was probably equally so for his disciples, just in different ways. “Who among you,” Jesus asks, “would be willing to have your slave come into your house, set the table, and then pull up a seat next to you.” Jesus knows his disciples are more likely to be slaves than own them, but still he expects them to answer like any good Roman subject would. “A slave’s place is not at the dinner table. They eat only after the master is done eating and they eat in their own quarters.” Perhaps they are hoping Jesus is about to subvert their expectations, and so they remain silent. Jesus does not though, and instead tells them they should be like slaves, and not expect to be praised for doing what is expected of them.

Within theology there is a concept called supererogation. It means, “to work above,” and refers to the belief that a Christian can do something above and beyond what is asked of them by God. We in the United Methodist Church actually have a specific belief about supererogation within our Articles of Religion.[2] The language comes from the 1600s so it’s a little antiquated, so allow me to modernize it. “It is impossible for a Christian to work beyond what is asked of them by God because God asks for everything from a Christian. Therefore, no amount of work or devotion can exceed what is expected of them when God expects everything.”

Jesus’s parable of the worthless slave is not without irony. When we read through his other teachings, we know that Christ is actually the kind of person who sets a table for slaves. Reading through Jesus’s teachings, we know that when we enter Heaven, we will receive the words, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”[3] However, Jesus’s harsher words here are necessary for us to understand something that we often forget about faith. We are not doing anything special by responding to Christ’s words with obedience and a desire to be good. Yes, it may not be everyone’s response to do these things, and yes, it may make us a far happier and holier person because we have done them, but in doing what we are supposed to do we have not earned ourselves any special favor.

If Christ was the kind of teacher, the kind of God, who looked at his disciples and lavished them with praise for each thing they did, I don’t think that we would exist as a Church today. The life that the disciples had to live, one in which they were constantly persecuted, denied basic human rights, sent out into the world to suffer the way they did, that kind of life can only happen because they did not expect anything for the work which they did. They were following the example of their savior after all, “who took on the form of a slave,” to save them.[4]

I often tell the story of my great uncle. He was an atheist. One day he was helping repair a roof on a church. As he was up on the ladder a Deacon of that church came out and told him to come down and talk to him for a while. The Deacon asked him how much the church was paying him to do the work and my uncle said, “I like what you all do, I’m doing this for free.” The Deacon looked at him and said, “Now you really ought to get some money out of this, I would never do this kind of work for free.” My uncle looked at him put his hand on his shoulder and said, “Sir, I don’t know how you Christians work, but I’m an atheist and we believe in doing things just cause they’re right.”

I tell that story because my uncle had a better understanding of what it means to do the right thing than most Christians. I do think that it’s important that we as individuals and as a church show people appreciation for the work they do. I think it would be very easy to abuse this teaching of Jesus to say that you should never give anyone a positive word because that’s not why they’re doing what they’re doing. However, as with so many things, we can’t throw out this teaching because it could be abused. The teaching is still good even if people have used it for evil. It is important to ask, what would the church be like if it took the attitude my uncle did more often? If we did good work, because it was right to do it, and asked for nothing else?

Today as the church celebrates World Communion Sunday, we acknowledge the fact that we are not the only Christians to exist. So often, we assume the only “good,” Christians are the ones just like us. The truth is more complicated than that. At this table, to all who earnestly seek it, there is more than enough grace, if only we can acknowledge how freely it is given, and how little we can contribute toward it. The worst thing we can do at this table, is presume that our seat at it has been earned, or that the grace we receive is something due to us.

I always find myself remembering the words of the old communion liturgy. Before the merger of ’68, Methodist and EUB churches would pray each Sunday before we took communion, saying, “We do not presume to come to this, Your Table, O Merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in your many and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under your table but you are the same Lord whose mercy is unfailing.”[5]

Today this table, for those who truly wish to take it in earnest, is a chance to start over. If we can humble ourselves and acknowledge the fact that we are not special, not in the way we often want to be, it will bless us richly. We must acknowledge we are as dependent upon God’s grace as any other person in the world and just as liable to sin and as likely to fail. True freedom comes from the acknowledgement of our dependency, and when we can remove that presumption of righteousness from ourselves, then we find our faith producing fruit. The fruit of righteousness, the fruit of mercy, and the fruit of grace that we have earnestly received.

We are not special, not even one of us, but that does not mean that we are not beloved. It does not mean that we do not still have a place in this world that needs us. It simply means that we do not have a privilege over any other human being. For we are sinners all and all of us are dependent upon the feast which is set before us by a God who welcomes every humble heart with grace upon grace, joy upon joy, at the seat we never thought we could sit down at. – Amen.

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[1] Matthew 17:20

[2] Articles of Faith of the Methodist Church. Article XI

[3] Matthew 25:21

[4] Philippians 2:7

[5] Adapted from “The Rite of The Lord’s Supper or Holy Communion” in The Methodist Hymnal. 1964